Dutch court rejects appeals over igaming fines
Two companies have been ordered to pay almost €400,000 in fines some two years after they were found to have broken Dutch gambling laws.
Simbat Entertainment Systems Limited, a games developer, faces a fine of €270,000 and Spinity Limited has been fined €100,000 after they failed in an appeal to The Court of The Hague over a ruling against them by Kansspelautoriteit (KSA) in July 2017.
The fine for Simbat was imposed because the company offered games of chance via at least 11 different websites. Spinity acted as a promotional agent for Simbat and was found to be promoting Simbat's gambling games.
The Hague court rejected the operators’ appeal in a ruling on June 6, and only now has the KSA published its decision.
“Under current law, it is not possible to obtain a license to offer online games of chance. That means that offering online games of chance is by definition illegal,” said the KSA, in a statement. “Advertising of online games of chance is also not allowed.
“Participants in online gambling are not protected; it is not possible to check the fairness of the game and the exclusion of minors. It is also not possible to check whether gambling addiction is prevented.”
The KSA is in the process of developing the licensing framework for legal online gambling after the Netherlands' Remote Gambling Act passed the country’s Senate in February after years in limbo.
The regulator last week revealed that 79 operators have expressed an interest in applying for an online gaming licence in the country ahead of the market’s scheduled opening on January 1, 2021.